Is now a good time?

Is it a good time to start putting money back in to the market? Particluarly in college 529 plans or Roth IRAs?

 

Depends on your time horizon. Personally, I never stopped putting money into the market although I did reallocate where that money was going. If you have many years until retirement put whatever you feel comfortable in the market. I set up two 529s just prior to all hell breaking loose with the market. Talk about bad timing. Both plans are down about half but my kids are young and the oldest has 15 years until college so I'm not sweating the loss.

 

That's the way I am too. My oldest is 3 and my youngest is 9 months. I havent started one for her yet because of the downfall. I also wanted to increase my own Roth contributions but I didnt after all the turmoil. I've got at keast 20 years until I retire. Should I go on and do it, even if I lose for now?

 

It's a tough decision made easier with a long term time horizon. Me personally, I am continueing to invest in the market through my 401k, ROTH/Traditional IRAs as well as the 529s for my kids. I look at the market as being on sale. That doesn't mean it will be more on sale a day, week, or month from now. Even if the market rebounds tremendously there is no guarantee it won't tank 5, 10, 15 years from now again. You have to just pick an amount you feel comfortable investing, allocate correctly, and not try to time the market. Be sure to save for your own retirement first though instead of focusing soley on the kids. They will hopefully be able to get loans for school, you won't be able to get a loan for retirement.

 

True enough.